The chamber of mirrored fate dissolved into flickering light, folding back into itself as if reality had exhaled. What remained was a windswept plateau surrounded by ruins—monoliths half-swallowed by earth, cracked spires with ancient glyphs, and a sky that blinked like it was remembering a forgotten dream.
Isaac, Aethra, and Rizz stood together at the edge of a stone platform etched with radiant, spiraling lines. The Shard of Veritas hovered at the center—an ancient crystal suspended in mid-air, softly humming. It spun slowly, reflecting each of them differently: Rizz in chains, Aethra with a blindfold, and Isaac standing alone, surrounded by glass shards.
They stared at it in silence.
"What is this place?" Aethra whispered.
Rizz stepped forward, his wings folding behind his back. "This is the place where truths are broken and rebuilt. The shard doesn't reveal the future—it reveals you."
Isaac raised a brow. "And how do you know that?"
"I don't," Rizz admitted, voice soft. "But my Soul Seal reacted the moment we came near. It's as if this place… was waiting."
A voice echoed—neither male nor female, yet ancient.
"The bearers of mirrored fate. Step forward."
The shard pulsed once, and wind swept across the ruins like a breath from a sleeping god.
"You have seen fragments. Light and shadow. Chains and fire. But truth is not in halves. It is whole—or it is false."
A circle of light spread from the shard, carving glowing runes into the stone beneath them.
Aethra stepped back. "This is a trial."
Isaac nodded grimly. "A test… to prove if we're worthy."
Rizz glanced between them, and for a moment, doubt flickered in his eyes. He was still young—still wrestling with the weight of the divine and the demonic within him. The Soul Seal burned softly beneath his skin, responding to both the shard and his companions.
"One must enter first."
The voice faded.
A choice.
The three looked at each other.
"I'll go," Aethra said.
Isaac frowned. "Are you sure?"
She nodded. "I've walked in darkness longer than either of you. If this thing wants to test our truths, then it can start with the one who's always doubted her own."
Without waiting, she stepped into the circle.
The light swallowed her.
And suddenly, she was gone.
The platform dimmed, leaving only Rizz and Isaac.
The silence stretched uncomfortably between them.
"I never thought we'd meet like this," Isaac said quietly. "I didn't even know you existed until a few days ago."
"Neither did I," Rizz admitted. "But somehow, I feel like I've known you forever."
Isaac's silver eye twitched. "Safa said our souls mirror each other."
"They do," Rizz said. "But mirrors reflect both the best… and the worst."
He looked away.
Isaac clenched his fists. "What do you see when you look at me?"
Rizz met his gaze. "Someone who doesn't know what they're capable of."
Isaac looked down. "I see someone who might destroy everything."
The platform glowed again.
The voice returned.
"Second bearer. Step forward."
Rizz looked at Isaac.
Isaac hesitated, then stepped forward. "I'll go."
The light rose to meet him, swallowing his form just as it had Aethra's. Alone now, Rizz stood on the stone, watching the shard spin with a gentle hum.
He stared into it.
It showed him a burning city. Corpses of angels. Chains coiled around his neck, dragging him down toward a dark star.
He didn't blink.
When the shard called him next, he'd answer.
But not as a boy searching for answers.
As the one who would shape them.
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